Meeting of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with Romanian President

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has welcomed, today, at the Cotroceni Palace, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, on official visit to Bucharest. This is the first visit of a Japanese Prime Minister in Romania and it takes place in the context of the five-year anniversary of the 2013 Renewed Partnership between Romania and Japan.

Japanese Prime Minister arrived in Romania after visiting the Baltic countries, Bulgaria and Serbia. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's delegation includes many businesspeople interested in expanding their collaboration with Romanian partners.

“Romania is a crucial partner for Japan”, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said after talks with President Klaus Iohannis, adding that he has agreed with President Iohannis that there should be close cooperation between the two countries, to "maintain and strengthen the rule of law at international level".

"Romania occupies a strategic geographical position in Europe and is a crucial partner for Japan, our countries having common values and principles, such as freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law," Shinzo Abe said at Cotroceni Palace in a Joint statement with President Klaus Iohannis.

Japan's Prime Minister has stated that talks with President Iohannis have focused on several areas, including security.

"It is extremely important the fact that the President and I have the common belief that we cannot accept North Korea's nuclear arming and we feel it is necessary to maximize the pressure on this country. We also have been able to confirm our common vision in terms of the importance of the immediate resolution of the problem of abduction of citizens. With conditions for instability in the international society, there is a need for an even stronger cooperation, as we have done so far between Japan and Europe, on behalf of the shared values that we have at our core. "From this point of view, Japan supports Europe in its unity and cohesion", said Shinzo Abe. He said the talks also focused on the economic field.

"For Romania's economy, the most important issue is the consolidation of infrastructure, and Japan is committed to the rapid access plan between Bucharest and Henri Coandă International Airport through the construction of subway line 6. To encourage exchanges and co-operation at human resources level, we have recently decided to lift visa requirements for Romanian citizens wishing to enter Japan and I hope that more and more Romanians will come to visit Japan", Shinzo Abe said.

He gave guarantees that he will make all efforts to develop political, economic, cultural and other relations between Japan and Romania.

Shinzo Abe said this is his first visit to Romania as Japan's Premier, remembering that 35 years ago he came to Romania on a private visit.

I am delighted to visit Romania in this year's Centenary of the Great Union. (...) I am glad that I visited the Japanese Garden in Bucharest and I am thanking for the very warm welcome I was shown in this country. I could also get acquainted to the Romanian culture and this is extremely important to me, "added Japan's Shinzo Abe.

In turn, President Klaus Iohannis said that Romanian-Japanese relations will be raised at strategic partnership level "in the not too distant future".

Today, we agreed that we share the same strategic values and objectives, we have similar security assessments in such a volatile environment, as well as common economic interests. In this context, we have decided together with Prime Minister Abe to launch the necessary steps in order to lift the relationship between Romania and Japan at the level of a strategic partnership in the not too distant future", the Head of State said at the Cotroceni Palace.

President Klaus Iohannis said the Japanese Prime Minister's visit is a "historic moment".

"It is the first official visit undertaken by a Prime Minister of Japan in the history of Romanian-Japanese relations and the first visit of a high official in the year 2018 which is so important to us - the Centennial Year of Modern Romania. At the same time, it is a special context. This year, we celebrate five years since the establishment of the renewed Partnership between our states, after the anniversary of last year, when 15 years have been celebrate since raising the bilateral relation at the level of a Partnership. Also last year we marked the 100th anniversary from the appointment of the first extraordinary representative of Romania to Japan", the Head of the Romanian State said.

Talks showed that the Romanian-Japanese relations reached a higher level of maturity, which will further intensify and strengthen the sectoral cooperation in all fields, Iohannis declared.

Talks also focused on the economic dimension of the Romanian-Japanese Partnership, Klaus Iohannis added, mentioning that he encouraged more Japanese investments in Romania and the increase of the trade exchanges.

Iohannis mentioned that he had discussed with the Japanese official the cultural dimension of the Romanian-Japanese relations, including the International Theater Festival in Sibiu.

Talks included the growing collaboration between the European Union and Japan.

"I congratulated the Prime Minister for the special success in recently finalizing negotiations on the Economic Partnership Agreement between the European Union and Japan, which will obviously have a positive effect on the relationship with Romania," Iohannis said.

He also mentioned he had discussed with the Japanese Prime Minister about the current developments within the EU, with an emphasis on the process of relaunching the European project, but also about Brexit.

Source:RRA.Translated by Miruna Matei